Smallest Proximity Fuse Shell in WW2?

Apologies for cluttering up the forum but my searching isn't turning up anything and I don't have access to the library again until Monday. As the title says does anyone happen to know what the smallest sized proximity fused shell developed and used effectively in WW2 was? Thanks.
 
Never heard of any other proximity fuse being used in WWII besides the 5" one, but if we believe wikipedia the Germans had 88mm prototypes. Then there is the 3"/50 from right after the war, which was the smallest calibre that could take contemporary VT fuses. However, this is a 1945 design and with the rapid rate of technological advancement, I'm not sure whether a 3" fuse could have been available mid-war.
 
Yeah just find somewhere referring the American 3 inch and British 3.7 inch shells using proximity fuses for anti-aircraft work. Always the way, never find anything until after you post a question and then seem to run right over the answer just after. :)
 
Never heard of any other proximity fuse being used in WWII besides the 5" one, but if we believe wikipedia the Germans had 88mm prototypes. Then there is the 3"/50 from right after the war, which was the smallest calibre that could take contemporary VT fuses. However, this is a 1945 design and with the rapid rate of technological advancement, I'm not sure whether a 3" fuse could have been available mid-war.

Well, there was the 90mm AAA gun which was used effectively against V-1.

Unless you mean for USN guns where I think you are right and I' spreading false info...... :eek:
 
If you have not done so already find a copy of the book 'The Deadly Fuze'

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=The+Deadly+Fuze&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

The author was one of the engineers involved in the US development program.

Beyond that a search for the US Army TM books on the proximity fuze from the 1940s should lead to a fair understanding of what projectiles fit the same fuzes the 90mm AA projectiles could. The diameter & thread engagement of the fuze cavity on US projectiles was highly standardized so I'd not be suprised if the proximity fuze fit some fairly small caliber ammunition.
 
Well, there was the 90mm AAA gun which was used effectively against V-1.

Unless you mean for USN guns where I think you are right and I' spreading false info...... :eek:
Ah, I was wondering if I hadn't forgotten something, since neither the US Army or the Brits had 5" AA on land...
 
Ah, I was wondering if I hadn't forgotten something, since neither the US Army or the Brits had 5" AA on land...

To my knowledge they did not use them on land until the Battle of the Bulge. I don't know what gun they used then. They were afraid of the enemy getting them. The navy used the most of them.
 
Ah, I was wondering if I hadn't forgotten something, since neither the US Army or the Brits had 5" AA on land...

5.25 (some) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QF_5.25_inch_gun#Land_service
4.5 (~400) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QF_4.5_inch_Mk_I_–_V_naval_gun

see "land service" portions of both. Article mentions VT for the 5.25 in 1944, no mention for the 4.5 but the round would have no problems having one fitted, since there were VT for the 3.7 inch (94mm) AAA and the 25 pounder (88mm)

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq96-1.htm#anchor1191195 states in the Development of Proximity Fuzes (VT) for Projectiles-VT Fuzes Mks 32 to 60 section under the development and tests paragraph:
In order to improve facilities for recovery firing, a test field was set up at Stump Neck, Maryland, where a 57mm gun was mounted for recovery firing. This gun was selected because it was the smallest gun which fired a projectile large enough to contain a fuze of the size necessary to accommodate the required components.
So - 57mm could have the fuse fitted to it even in the early days, though it probably was not yet compact enough to allow much if any HE filling.

As for the US 3"/50 naval weapon - it seems VT was used in WW2 from the same source:
As development of the Mk 45 fuze progressed, it became apparent that would be desirable to utilize this fundamental design in certain of the U. S. Navy fuzes. This fuze was the first fuze small enough to be included in the U. S. Navy 3"/50 projectile. Consequently, a Mk 45 fuze was produced for the 3"/50 in about May of 1944. This fuze was delivered to the Fleet, but was never very satisfactory and its production was ultimately discontinued. A new fuze, known as the Mk 58, was designed for the 3"/50 which contained more or less the standard Mk 45 design with the addition of a wave suppression feature to permit use of this fuze low over waves. The Mk 58 fuze was delivered to the Fleet in November 1944.
The article is naval-focussed so the 3.7 seems not to be specifically mentioned, but there is mention of VT fuses for the naval 4inch.
 
Not sure the source is reliable, but I've heard of 40mm with them...

Practical 57mm and lower calibre VT was a post war development with the arrival of transistors. Whether it was worthwhile actually issuing it is a moot point - they ate up a fair amount of the volume of such small ammo and so the HE content would probably be reduced?.

Modern AAA developments are more in the nature of the AHEAD system and similar, setting exact timing into the fuse on firing and so putting the complexity in the radar and fire control circuitry, rather than eating up volume with a biggish fuse with a radar and battery.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oerlikon_Millennium_35_mm_Naval_Revolver_Gun_System
 

Kongzilla

Banned
On the note of Proximity fuses. Were the German fuses better than the Allied ones. I know none of the German fuses got into production but I was reading and it said that they couldn't be as easily jammed/blocked as the Allied gear.
 
To my knowledge they did not use them on land until the Battle of the Bulge. I don't know what gun they used then. They were afraid of the enemy getting them. The navy used the most of them.

The use for regular field artillery was scheduled for late December 1944. That date was advanced slightly when the Ardennes offensive started. AA use was made earlier in Europe, but I dont have the date. However I do know the Brits were using their early version of rocket AA weapons before 1943. The twin considerations for use were production volume and possibility of the enemy reverse engineering a capture example. By late 1944 it was decided it was too late for a German or Japanese 'reverse engineered' fuze to have a significant impact.

IIRC Churchill referes to the use of the Brit version in his history of the war, & it is mentioned in 'The Deadly Fuze'.
 
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